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Social Studies Education

According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: " The study of social studies helps young people learn about their social, cultural, and physical world and their own place in that world. It provides a context where young people can understand the structure and processes of our society and apply their knowledge and skills to make informed personal and social policy decisions and to adapt to changing social, political, and economic conditions."

The courses offered through the MHS Social Studies Department are designed to meet the goals of the DPI and to provide an enriching educational experience for all students. Below is information on the courses that I will be teaching this year. Please visit the webpages of the other Social Studies Department teachers for information on additional courses offered.

My Courses:

Social Studies Survey - 0.5 credit required

Social Studies Survey is a required course that will be an introduction to the core areas of Social Studies: Geography, History, Government, Economics, Sociology, and Psychology. Each topic will be studied from an American and global perspective. The course will focus on the development of critical skills such as: graph and chart analysis, map reading, document based questions, research preparation, and general reading techniques.

Global Conflict - 0.5 credit elective

Global Conflict will focus on informing students of both historic and current conflicts that shape our global community. Students will gain knowledge of world cultures and develop an understanding of the historic, geographic, economic, political, cultural, and environmental relationships among world regions and peoples. It will encourage the development of international understanding, tolerance, and empathy.

Historical Media Analysis - 0.5 credit elective

"As the capabilities of technology expand and the mass media become the dominant storytellers in American society, it becomes increasingly important for students to learn the skills to critically analyze the texts of popular culture. While television and media offer a way for us to learn about people and places around the world, they often frame their stories in ways that are seemingly absolute, although they only as become an essential component of the Social Studies discipline." (Taken from mediaed.net)

In Historical Media, we will be working with a variety of media with the focus on determining how history has been presented with an emphasis on analyzing message, audience, bias, and method. We will be analyzing movies, TV shows, magazines, and advertising both of the past and the present time periods to explore history through these various forms of media.